Long Cork Poems

How I Got Richer and What I Did Next



I struck a sly deal with some Wall Street investors.
I shorted 'em stocks that didn't exist!
But they got me back (those post-empty-nesters)
by making fake deals I couldn't...

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I met with some bankers in fine textured suits.
I struck a deal quick. (I had such a knack.)
I offered rare cacti and tropical fruits – 
a cure-all for things that ail your back.

I served 'em...

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from island corner, big Antrim lad
  to Belfast city, a tiny pad
  shattered windows, tilted clocks
  Goliath had lost his socks
  gargantuan giant going mad

  Armagh apple girl, any topic
...

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Huge fluffy clouds began to form over 
Sanibel Island as the salted gulf splashed 
against the rocks around the lighthouse 
coastal waters rose up as a calming coolness 
carried this gentle warm breeze over to...

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At the final stroking of saint Halloween eve, it seems not so long ago,
That my trusty SUV, transport vehicle unceremoniously broke down,
Right outside the local pet cemetery, what a marvelous place to
Spend the spookiest night...

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Oi be nowt but an auld country hick,
we a liddle bit of gall, an a lotta stick.
Oi baint niver afeared to speak me mind,
nor critizise folks harshly iffen Oi find
zummit I don’t loik.  Tis...

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“The ribbon is cut
 The die is cast
 The cement is dry
 Yet nothing lasts
 The brazen rewarded
 The hero a fool
 All reason outdated
 New fury the tool”

A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With...

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[My recent poem ‘The Dimly Lit House’ received a
Comment from Charles Messina that it could be a Tom and 
Jerry episode… what can I say? Something went ‘Ping!’]

       ...

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V.1: I know I acted like an odd fool
When I told you I’m not at school
I know I acted like I was so smart, 
But that’s all bull, not my work of art

Pre-chapter: You got...

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1. A constant smile is the alabaster
for struggle’s ornaments be made faster
average looks with a smile can be labial
its absence points to problems so filial,
may not keep the wolf away from the door
or deliver salvation...

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In 1920, my father, 16, was a guest of the British government. He was a prisoner of their forces occupying Ireland at the time, a group called the Black and Tans.

One day he and seven...

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There is a water glint,
just shining through the copse beyond.
Autumn's sinking sun, 
barred by spindle trees and the last 
of summer's brindled reeds 
and sedge and rush that fringe this stilling pond.
.
 
Damp leaves hide...

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It has often been said that empires come and go
And from the beginning of time that has been so
Empires ruled with terror and an iron fist
Taking brutal action against those, who tried to resist.

On the...

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WITHIN THE BRIGHTEST NIGHT (Part 11)

He placed the flower back in the middle of the floor. He walked back over to the door. There was a handle on the other side.
I'll open it.

He lifted the...

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WITHIN THE BRIGHTEST NIGHT (Part 11)

He placed the flower back in the middle of the floor. He walked back over to the door. There was a handle on the other side.
I'll open it.

He lifted the...

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It was glorious ...

A glorious, glowing morn ...
crimson crept up the sky, as if air-brushed ...
little round globs of fair-weather clouds tiptoed on the reach,
(so as to not wake the moon, laying down its head...

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Among an unnamed female person known within mine black barbed ken

Analogous to black box
holding untold secrets,
(after deadly plane crash
no survivors except 
a journeyman foreigner),
I share the following self
introspection with ye dear readers,
which purported hidden truths
might...

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Paddy

His name is Padraig Torrin McWheaten of County Cork, esq. – Paddy for short!  He is Celtic mischief with deep brown eyes the color of Irish sod, a big, black gumdrop nose and a...

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The Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar

At Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai,
   The Little Master chose to say good-bye;
His Rembrandtesque canvass hat shading eyes,
   He whispered thanks up to high-open skies.

Gods spurned earth but...

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Thomas always asked questions
That is how he learned his lessons 
To celebrate the end of third grade 
Books were exchanged for a trip in a fair trade 
His class went to the local magic show...

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FICTION USUALLY WRITTEN 
STRICTLY TO KEEP YOUR 
READERS INTRIGUED LIKE 
WITH JASON BOURNE OR 
THE FICTIONAL WRITE FALSE 
WITNESS OR AWOL WHERE 
A FICTIONAL CHARACTER 
GOES AWOL FOR NOT GOING 
INTO WORK AFTER A MENTAL...

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We’re (my roommates and I) at a specific time of youth - a time I’ll call “close.” We aren’t fully adults but we’re close, we’re not completely out and independent, but we’re close. And once...

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A chopstick is just a utensil.
But a chopstick can
trigger that
uncontrollable laughter
and smiles at the dinner table.
When one snaps, we chuckle.
When someone can’t use them properly,
we giggle.
When someone eats with them,
we ridicule.

Chopsticks are an icon of...

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Three Ice-Dragons of Zaath, are faring South,
They strip the landscape barren of all Love.
Each holds a lifeless Champion in its mouth,
Each imitates the wolf, and mocks the Dove…

Beware their icy maws, their shepherds’ clothing,
For they...

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For those who are following this story, here is the next installment. If this is your first time reading, please read the first one and it will help make sense of the story. Thanks for...

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